photo from Brian Sims’ site on flickr.com/creativecommons Before the Nov. 2 general strike, some Oakland teachers said they wished they had more time to prepare lessons about the Occupy movement. Now that two weeks have passed, I’m curious to hear… Continue Reading →]]>

photo from Brian Sims' site on flickr.com/creativecommons
Before the Nov. 2 general strike, some Oakland teachers said they wished they had more time to prepare lessons about the Occupy movement. Now that two weeks have passed, I'm curious to hear how teachers have approached the subject in class.
It must be challenging to teach current events like this, as the situation can shift in a matter of hours. On the other hand, given Oakland's role in the movement, I imagine it's easier for students to connect what's happening nationally to their own lives. It might also be an effective way to bring to life topics relating to the economy, banking and government, such as tax rates and the power of campaign contributions and mass protests such as this.
So, tell us: How are you teaching it? Have your class discussions reflected multiple points of view? I found this lesson plan on the New York Times website. The author also invites students to add their comments here.
I welcome students (and parents) to add their comments, too -- about the movement and what they'd like to learn about it.]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2011/11/16/how-to-teach-history-while-its-happening/feed/23Occupy Oakland 10-25-11 1How to teach about Sept. 11http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2011/08/26/how-to-teach-about-sept-11/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2011/08/26/how-to-teach-about-sept-11/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 20:07:19 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=13103

My colleagues and I are working on a story about how Bay Area teachers plan to cover the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. So tell us: What aspects of the event and its ongoing aftermath will —… Continue Reading →]]>

My colleagues and I are working on a story about how Bay Area teachers plan to cover the anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks. So tell us: What aspects of the event and its ongoing aftermath will -- or should -- social studies teachers address in their classrooms?
Given the religious and ethnic diversity of California's classrooms, I wonder how teachers will approach such sensitive topics as the role of religion and international terrorism, if at all, and generally what they will consider as they put together their lesson plans.
How do you make an event -- one that's still so fresh in the minds of many adults -- relevant to children who were toddlers or small children when the World Trade Centers collapsed? How much emphasis and time, if any, to you plan to devote to this topic?
The Education Writers Association posted this link to a blog post with curriculum for teachers. Are there other resources you'd recommend?
I'm looking for teachers, parents and students to interview and, possibly, for lessons to observe. If you're interested -- Don't be shy! -- or know someone who might be, send me an email with your contact information so we can talk at greater length about how you and your colleagues plan to approach this important moment in our world's history.
I encourage you to post your thoughts and ideas here. Want to write a piece for The Education Report about the subject? Please submit it to kmurphy@bayareanewsgroup.com. Just remember to include your basic information (name, school, grade, subject, etc.) and, if possible, a photo of yourself. I look forward to hearing from you.]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2011/08/26/how-to-teach-about-sept-11/feed/26FILE September 11 Attack Orchestrator Osama Bin Laden DeadShop class: Are old school skills back on the cutting edge?http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2011/07/15/shop-class-are-old-school-skills-back-on-the-cutting-edge/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2011/07/15/shop-class-are-old-school-skills-back-on-the-cutting-edge/#commentsSat, 16 Jul 2011 01:34:38 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=12934Shop classes (and especially the term “shop class”) have fallen out of fashion in the last couple of decades. But Mark Martin, an engineer who started iDesign-M, thinks that basic manufacturing skills are still relevant in today’s marketplace. He says… Continue Reading →]]>Shop classes (and especially the term "shop class") have fallen out of fashion in the last couple of decades. But Mark Martin, an engineer who started iDesign-M, thinks that basic manufacturing skills are still relevant in today's marketplace. He says they are important for careers in design and engineering, as well as (obviously) the well-paying advanced manufacturing jobs that our president is promoting.
I know San Leandro High still offers a thriving industrial arts program. What about other schools?
Here is a video of the free, two-week iDesign-M program that 15 East Bay high school students attended this month. This is the second year of the program, which is heavily funded with private grants. It's held at Laney College in Oakland. A story about the program should appear in the paper next week, possibly Monday.
]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2011/07/15/shop-class-are-old-school-skills-back-on-the-cutting-edge/feed/6GO Public Schools’ wish list for 2011http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/12/30/go-public-schools-wish-list-for-2011/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/12/30/go-public-schools-wish-list-for-2011/#commentsFri, 31 Dec 2010 00:03:29 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=11345Great Oakland Public Schools, a local advocacy group that started with funding from the Rogers Family Foundation, wants to see some new blood on the Oakland teachers union’s executive board and representative council next year. It wants district leaders to… Continue Reading →]]>Great Oakland Public Schools, a local advocacy group that started with funding from the Rogers Family Foundation, wants to see some new blood on the Oakland teachers union's executive board and representative council next year. It wants district leaders to emphasize high quality instruction as well as service hubs, and a "new and better response" to an unnamed principal who has complained about the required retention of mediocre teachers.
Below is a letter from GO's director (and former OUSD administrator) Jonathan Klein, followed by the 10-item wish list. Which of the points do you agree or disagree with?

Dear neighbors and advocates for Oakland students,
If you spend time in Oakland public schools, you know there is much to celebrate, both in the achievements of our students and in the work of the adults who serve them.
In 2010, Oakland Unified was again the most improved school district in the State of California. And in tough economic times, 66 percent of Oakland voters supported Measure L -- a parcel tax to benefit Oakland public schools.
Still, our public schools face tough challenges:
The system continues to be underresourced and more cuts are coming in January. The Oakland Education Association's leadership is threatening another strike over compensation -- despite withholding their support for Measure L. Oakland continues to be challenged by violence. And many families leave Oakland public schools because of perceptions regarding safety and academic quality.
Yet, I remain hopeful. There is abundant evidence that our community, our new mayor, our superintendent, our police chief, and the thousands of men and women who work in our schools are deeply committed to giving our children and youth a healthy, bright future.
I have strong memories of election night 2008 -- standing in a friend's crowded living room -- many of us with tears in our eyes -- watching as West Coast polls closed and news organizations announced that Barack Obama would be our next President.
We were hopeful that night, despite understanding the enormity of our challenges.
We are still the ones that we have been waiting for.
2011 brings renewed opportunity for us to get things done for Oakland students.
Oakland Education Policy 2011 Top 10 Wish List
1. Participation from Oakland’s best teachers in the Oakland Education Association’s Representative Council and March 2011 Executive Board Election.
2. A Deputy Mayor for Education in Mayor Quan’s office who knows the issues, speaks for all students, and is empowered to convene and align agencies and partners.
3. Wisdom within Oakland’s education leadership to ensure that Thriving Students (OUSD's new strategic direction) puts Oakland public schools on a path to be both hubs of services and centers of learning and high-quality teaching.
4. An outcomes orientation for these final 6 months of OUSD strategic planning that sees the forest through the trees and doesn't spend all its time and energy on process.
5. A new and better answer to an Oakland principal who in a recent meeting said that the biggest pain point within OUSD is having to retain mediocre teachers.
6. Audacity and resilience among West Oakland leaders to come together to do something different and bold on behalf of West Oakland public schools and students.
7. Specificity within Thriving Students about the positive role charter public schools play in providing quality educational opportunities to Oakland children and youth.
8. Constructive dialogue to address long-standing critiques of Oakland's charter movement (e.g. access to special education programs, "creaming," expulsion, etc.)
9. Increased vision and emphasis on the roles of education technology and virtual learning environments in our public schools as we endeavor to do more for our students with fewer resources.
10. Generosity of spirit across neighborhoods, communities and organizations with renewed mindfulness of the proverb that rain does not fall on one roof alone.

The timing was pure coincidence: a story about the popularity of Oakland Technical High School and its humanities program and a report that 40 percent of Oakland’s public high school students drop out. The juxtaposition illustrates the wide range of… Continue Reading →]]>

The timing was pure coincidence: a story about the popularity of Oakland Technical High School and its humanities program and a report that 40 percent of Oakland's public high school students drop out. The juxtaposition illustrates the wide range of experiences and opportunities in the city's public schools.
At Tech, for instance, the estimated dropout rate (based on 2008-09 data) is 28 percent. That's about the same percentage of 10th- through 12th-graders who are enrolled in Paideia, the school's rigorous, college prep humanities program.
Here's a video I took during a visit to the program this fall:
Oh, and if you're looking for a copy of the print version, you might want to wait. There was a production error; we'll be running the story again, in its entirety, tomorrow. ]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/12/08/one-district-different-worlds/feed/39Oakland Technical High School. Photo by Jane Tyska/Bay Area News GroupCollege prep for all: Chicago’s hard lessonshttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/09/08/college-prep-for-all-chicagos-hard-lessons/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/09/08/college-prep-for-all-chicagos-hard-lessons/#commentsWed, 08 Sep 2010 21:38:56 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=10222Next fall, Oakland’s ninth-graders will automatically enroll in a course sequence that closely matches state university entrance requirements. The Oakland school board passed this policy, known as “A to G For All,” in 2009, a change that student leaders and… Continue Reading →]]>Next fall, Oakland's ninth-graders will automatically enroll in a course sequence that closely matches state university entrance requirements. The Oakland school board passed this policy, known as "A to G For All," in 2009, a change that student leaders and local advocacy groups such as Ed Trust-West pushed for -- and one embraced by other California school districts.
As the district ramps up for the shift, it might draw a lesson or two from Chicago Public Schools, which which in 1997 eliminated remedial courses and required its students to take college-prep coursework. New findings by the Consortium on Chicago School Research at the University of Chicago and reported by Catalyst Chicago found that the policy did reduce “tracking,” or the segregation of students by skill level, since all students were taking similar course sequences.
Here's the catch: Researchers found “no evidence” that the policy change otherwise helped the students achieve academically. Their test scores didn’t go up. Grades of weaker students went down, as did graduation rates. College enrollment and retention didn’t improve. And higher-skilled students started skipping school more often.
Even though they were taking Algebra I earlier than before, theoretically freeing them up to take more advanced math classes, struggling students post-1997 were no more likely to earn those high-level credits than they were before the policy change, researchers found.

While the Chicago Public Schools 1997 reform did reduce inequities in coursework by entering skill level, race and ethnicity, and special education status, the policy had no effects on the major outcomes these kinds of curricular reforms are designed to impact.

Local proponents of college prep for all have argued that students will "rise to the occasion." That they'll be more likely to care about school and work hard if they're challenged (and that they're painfully aware when they've been placed on the remedial track).
But in Chicago, students seemed to be no more into their classes than they had been before. Why? One possible reason, the researchers concluded, was a too-heavy emphasis on curriculum -- and not enough on teaching. After the change, classrooms included students with the highest and lowest skill levels, and the best and the worst attendance and study habits.

Mandatory and default curriculum policies are likely to produce classrooms of students with more mixed incoming skill levels. Therefore, policymakers need to provide supports for the teachers who will now have to teach college-preparatory courses to students with a wider range of prior achievement—students who often have a history of poor
attendance and weak study habits.

Despite these shortcomings, the study doesn't suggest the district should revert to its old ways:

Although these findings are likely disappointing to mandatory curriculum advocates, this does not suggest that these policies are misguided. Prior to 1997, the differentiated curriculum was clearly not serving Chicago students well—even when they took remedial coursework, large numbers of students failed those courses and eventually dropped out. Instead, this research suggests that mandatory and default curriculum policies need to be accompanied by a focused attention to instruction and stronger efforts to improve the academic behaviors—particularly attendance and studying—associated with better school performance. Without improved instruction and engagement, the promise of these well-meaning reforms is likely to go unrealized.

What do you think? How are Oakland teachers and students being prepared for this shift?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/09/08/college-prep-for-all-chicagos-hard-lessons/feed/11Released: National teaching content standardshttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/03/10/released-national-teaching-content-standards/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/03/10/released-national-teaching-content-standards/#commentsThu, 11 Mar 2010 01:06:30 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=8462

You may have heard about a movement to create more uniformity in what public school kids in the United States are taught — and on what they are tested. A common criticism of No Child Left Behind is that the… Continue Reading →]]>

You may have heard about a movement to create more uniformity in what public school kids in the United States are taught -- and on what they are tested. A common criticism of No Child Left Behind is that the content and the difficulty of standardized tests vary greatly from state to state.
So far, I believe, all states but Texas and Alaska are on board with what's known as Common Core State Standards. Steven Weinberg wrote about the issue earlier this year, saying too few teachers were involved in the drafting process.
Today, a draft of its common K-12 standards was released. I wouldn't recommend it for your next book club, but maybe teachers will be able to glean more from the document than I could. You may submit your comments to the curriculum-powers-that-be until Friday, April 2.
I hope you submit your comments here as well. Do you think common standards would be good for kids? For the country?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2010/03/10/released-national-teaching-content-standards/feed/6map by Norman B. Leventhal Map Center at flickr.com/creativecommonsFree digital textbooks are up: Any takers?http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/08/12/free-digital-textbooks-are-up-any-takers/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/08/12/free-digital-textbooks-are-up-any-takers/#commentsWed, 12 Aug 2009 23:55:31 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=6154

Remember Arnold’s digital textbook initiative that we discussed in June? Well, a review of 16 of these newfangled `books’ came out yesterday, and the materials – all free — are posted online. It looks like they’re all for high school math and science: geometry, algebra II, trigonometry, calculus,… Continue Reading →]]>

Remember Arnold's digital textbook initiative that we discussed in June?
Well, a review of 16 of these newfangled `books' came out yesterday, and the materials -- all free -- are posted online.
It looks like they're all for high school math and science: geometry, algebra II, trigonometry, calculus, physics, chemistry, biology/life science and earth science.
Ten of the textbooks reviewed covered at least 90 percent of the state content standards for the subject, and four met all of them. Only three of the 16 really bombed the review. (Step it up, Earth Systems!)
This stuff is all free; you can print each book out, chapter by chapter -- or not (this is the paperless age, after all).
Do you think schools should take advantage of this technology? Are any doing so already? Take a look -- you can find the various materials here -- and let us know what you think.
AP Photo, Tribune archives]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/08/12/free-digital-textbooks-are-up-any-takers/feed/2real and virtual textbooksNew principals and a $1.8m math contracthttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/08/10/new-principals-a-18m-math-contract/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/08/10/new-principals-a-18m-math-contract/#commentsMon, 10 Aug 2009 23:45:10 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=6082

The Oakland school board is back in business. It holds a special meeting at 5 p.m. this evening with the district’s new superintendent to talk strategic priorities, and it met on Saturday as well. A couple of things on the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting, the first regular session since June:… Continue Reading →]]>

The Oakland school board is back in business. It holds a special meeting at 5 p.m. this evening with the district's new superintendent to talk strategic priorities, and it met on Saturday as well.
A couple of things on the agenda for Wednesday's meeting, the first regular session since June:

A new personnel report, in which I learned: Matthew Duffy, the Elmhurst Community Prep principal I profiled in May, is now a Network Executive Officer; Duffy's assistant principal, Laura Robell, has become acting principal; Elyata Davis is acting principal of REACH; and Claude Jenkins is acting principal of Youth Empowerment School. (The Skyline High School appointment is conspicuously absent, unless I missed it somehow.)

A hefty $1.78 million, one-year contract for Swun Math, a program first piloted at a handful of elementary schools. This year, if the contract is approved, Swun Math will be in place at 35 elementary and 18 middle schools throughout the district.

Most of the schools using the Swun Math method have seen their test scores rise significantly, according to the charts in this district presentation.
Last year, I observed a Swun lesson in Aijeron Simmons's class at New Highland Elementary School. It was extremely interactive, structured and high-energy; the kids were really into it. Of course, it was hard to determine how much of that dynamic was created by Simmons -- an experienced and passionate math teacher -- and how much of it was due to the structure of the Swun program.
Simmons said she liked the Swun method, though she didn't see it as a magic bullet. She said it essentially teaches only the material that might appear on the state math test, making it almost certain to boost scores. Her kids could crank out operations, she said, but she didn't know whether they grasped the material on a deeper level.
"That's the real test of the program: Will these kids pass Algebra in the eighth grade?" she said.
How would you describe your experience (or your child's experience) with Swun Math? Given its track record on one hand and the district's tough fiscal situation on the other, is it worth the price?]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/08/10/new-principals-a-18m-math-contract/feed/13Swun Math competitionLeaked: Draft of national standards for schoolshttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/07/22/leaked-draft-of-national-standards-for-schools/
http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/07/22/leaked-draft-of-national-standards-for-schools/#commentsWed, 22 Jul 2009 20:18:55 +0000Katy Murphyhttp://www.ibabuzz.com/education/?p=5814

Education wonk alert! A draft document of common core state standards, the latest effort to create more consistency in curriculum between the 50 states, is circulating in cyberspace. The Core Knowledge camp — those who promote the teaching of shared, specific content and… Continue Reading →]]>

Education wonk alert! A draft document of common core state standards, the latest effort to create more consistency in curriculum between the 50 states, is circulating in cyberspace.
The Core Knowledge camp -- those who promote the teaching of shared, specific content and "a sequential building of knowledge" -- were quick to weigh in on the document today, in a blog devoted to the issue. They're not fans, as you might gather from the headline: "Voluntary National Standards Dead on Arrival." They say the guidlines include little content and that they would be fairly useless to teachers and parents.
Here's a quote from E.D. Hirsch, Jr., the Core Knowlege founder, which is posted on the blog:

At first glance, these language standards are, despite the brave descriptors, very similar to the dysfunctional state standards already in place. Like most state standards, they naively take a formalistic approach to language ability. They assume that the ability to understand literary and informational language is chiefly a how–to skill, whereas it is chiefly a topic-dependent skill that varies with specific topic familiarity. ... One begins to despair.

You can find a copy of the draft here. Do you have an equally dismal view of the draft? Do you think it's time for national standards?
image from House of Sims Web site at flickr.com/creativecommons]]>http://www.ibabuzz.com/education/2009/07/22/leaked-draft-of-national-standards-for-schools/feed/4school books